Groups renew push to raise tobacco age to 21

Friday

Apr 7, 2017 at 8:46 AMApr 7, 2017 at 1:32 PM

Gerry Tuoti Wicked Local Newsbank Editor

BOSTON – While 140 Massachusetts cities and towns, including Walpole, have already raised their legal tobacco sales ages from 18 to 21, there’s now a renewed push to enact a similar restriction statewide.

“A change in policy can change lives, and that’s why we’re here today,” Marc Hymovitz, government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ASCAN), told a crowd of volunteers, students and health advocates who gathered last Wednesday at the Statehouse.

A group of more than 100 rallied in front of the Statehouse’s grand staircase for the ACSCAN annual lobby day. The participants spent the afternoon visiting their elected lawmakers to advocate for new statewide tobacco regulations.

Bills introduced by state Rep. Paul McMurty, D-Dedham - one of Walpole's representatives - and state Sen. Jason Lewis, D-Winchester, would increase the tobacco sales age to 21, stop pharmacies from selling tobacco products and prohibit the use of e-cigarettes in smoke-free workplaces.

“I think we all understand today that tobacco is still the leading cause of preventable illness and death,” Lewis said. “If we can do more to keep cigarettes, vaping products and other tobacco products out of the hands of 14-year-olds, 15-year-olds, 16-year-olds, we will save lives and reduce healthcare costs.”

Similar legislation passed the Massachusetts Senate last session, but never came up for a vote in the House. Hawaii and California are currently the only states that ban tobacco sales to adults under the age of 21.

Walpole High School principal, Steven Imbusch said he hasn’t seen many cigarettes in schools in the last decade.

“Most kids have quit smoking cigarettes, it seems,” he said. “We saw a regular decrease in kids smoking in the bathroom probably 10 or 15 years ago. ... I don’t think I’ve smelled a cigarette in the hallway in about five years, 15 years ago it used to be a regular occurrence in the bathrooms, but not anymore.”

Imbusch believes this is because students are better educated than they once were about the dangers of tobacco. Conversely, vaporizer use has become more prevalent.

“When the vaporizers took over, we saw a real lull in cigarettes,” he said. “Then, very slowly, we started to see the vaporizers working their way in.

The vaporizers, he said, are popping up more and more. He believes this is because there is not as much negative research surrounding the e-liquid used inside the vaporizers.

“Kids seem to think that they’re less bad for you,” he said. “I say to them all the time, ‘I’m not so sure about that.’ There’s not enough research on them enough yet, and they’re more willing to do it.”

Students caught using vaporizers are subjected to the same chemical health violation as if they were smoking a cigarette.

According to the ACSCAN, 95 percent of smokers become addicted to nicotine before age 21. Tobacco use leads to 9,000 deaths in Massachusetts each year, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that smoking is responsible for more than $4 billion in annual healthcare costs statewide.

Supporters of the proposal say that allowing 18-year-olds to legally buy cigarettes increases the chances of tobacco getting into the hands of their younger classmates at school.

Ryan Kearney, general counsel for the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said his group has concerns with the bill, which would prevent legal adults ages 18-20 from buying tobacco. He also questioned the logic of prohibiting stores that contain a pharmacy from selling tobacco products.

Despite his misgivings, however, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts would prefer a consistent statewide law over a “patchwork” of local ordinances, Kearney said when reached by phone last week. The current landscape puts retailers in towns with a tobacco ordinance at a competitive disadvantage compared to stores in neighboring communities, he said.

Walpole Police Chief John Carmichael said his concern is mainly with the development of the adolescent brain. He said that overwhelming research indicates the human brain continues its primary development until a person is 25-years-old.

“If you want to really make an impact on addiction,” said Carmichael, “the longer you extend that onset or initiation to the drug outside of the adolescent brain, I think the better off you are.”

He's seeing the issue evolve, however.

“The trend we’re seeing now are (electronic cigarettes),” said Carmichael.

The dangers associated with electronic cigarette use are less severe than analog cigarettes, but they still exist, he said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, e-cigarette vapor can contain harmful substances, including nicotine and benzene.

Many of the participants at last week's rally were high school students. Hannah King, a student at Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton, said electronic cigarette use seems to be increasing among young people, many of whom often view smokeless tobacco as a safe alternative to cigarettes.

“E-cigarettes are getting really big, and kids our age don’t take it seriously,” she said.

Franklin High School student Teerithveen Pasricha voiced a general support for raising the age.

“We believe the tobacco age should be raised from 18 to 21 because it will prevent future cases of lung cancer, which is exactly what we need in this community,” said Pasricha.

Winchester High School student Lali Albrecht offered similar thoughts.

“We think it’s really important because tobacco is the leading cause of preventable deaths in Massachusetts, and if we can help prevent them, obviously we should,” she said.

Acton-Boxborough High School student Rhea Kukkal said it’s important to protect young people from tobacco.

“I’m here today to try to expand the bill to try to prevent tobacco use all the way up to 21-year-olds because it’s the No. 1 biggest cause of preventable death in Massachusetts,” she said.

Sudbury eighth-grade student Mason Lutz and his mother, Marisa Lutz, also participated. They said taking steps early on to make it harder for kids to start smoking would have positive impacts. An ACSCAN poster featured Mason as the future third baseman for the Boston Red Sox, an allusion to youth’s limitless potential without cigarettes.

Marshfield resident Deborah Cornwall, a longtime volunteer with the American Cancer Society, said she was heartened to see so many teens take a stand against smoking.

Walpole Times staff writer Scott Calzolaio contributed to this report.